


Those who dance are considered insane by those who can't hear the music

by MyFandomCausesHanaji



Series: Love story in three parts [1]
Category: Chinese Actor RPF, Real Person Fiction, 博君一肖, 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) RPF
Genre: Actors, Banter, Boys In Love, Bromance, Celebrities, Chatting & Messaging, Ficlet, Fluff, Friendship, Friendship/Love, I managed to write 12k w/o a single “fuck” and this is an achievement, In Character, M/M, No Smut, POV Alternating, Platonic Relationships, Romance, Set during CQL filming in summer ‘18, Slow Build, but they don’t know that yet, can be read as, let’s help them find out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-29
Packaged: 2020-08-23 13:22:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20243551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyFandomCausesHanaji/pseuds/MyFandomCausesHanaji
Summary: He wears that impassive mask on his face eighty percent of the time, and a heart on his sleeve for the rest twenty.





	1. Preamble.

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Танцующие кажутся сумасшедшими тем, кто не слышит музыку [ПЕРЕВОД]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21615661) by [Kriomika](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kriomika/pseuds/Kriomika), [Lady_Sheirena](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Sheirena/pseuds/Lady_Sheirena), [MyFandomCausesHanaji](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyFandomCausesHanaji/pseuds/MyFandomCausesHanaji)

> There are links inside the fic, mostly to certain moments in videos on youtube, that some parts of the fic are based on.  
(I was trying to make the links open in a new tab, but the limited html in the editor here seems not to recognise that tag, so be aware of that ― the links will open in the current tab).
> 
> Also, I added Mo Dao Zu Shi tag cause I want more traffic. Fight me.
> 
> I was trying to stay respectful to both actors in this fic, so I apologize for anything here that you as fans might find offensive towards either Wang YiBo or Xiao Zhan -- it was never my intention.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are images inside this chapter, please, **let me know if you can't see them!**

YiBo comes home from a long day (week, to be precise) on set, sprawls himself on a couch and pulls out his phone. The screen is the only source of light in the dark room but he couldn’t possibly care less — the only thing he wants is for someone to put some food in his mouth, since he is too tired to do it on his own, then take a long shower and an even longer nap. 

Okay, that is three things, but he would be glad to do them all at once if only to spare some time and energy. 

He rubs his eyes and squints at the phone screen.

There are dozens of notifications, a few missed calls, way too many messages, but he first goes to his chat with Xiao Zhan that has seven unread texts. Looks like someone has too much time to spare on his respective set...

There are three pics with memes YiBo hasn’t seen before and he laughs lightly at them, before reading the messages.

“Ur last interview is horrible, Wang-laoshi. Did u aim for dark and mysterious? Coz u just seemed annoyed.[ 1 ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPOLt4Qf_Pg) It doesn’t suit u. Haven’t I taught u how to give interviews? U gotta be _ charming _.”

YiBo rolls his eyes and then blinks at the screen in confusion.

“What interview?” he sends back, thinks for a moment and then adds, ”And I don’t want to be charming, I want to be me.”

He stares at the unread status of his messages wondering whether Xiao Zhan is busy shooting or sleeping, reads the messages again and sends another one,

“And Zhan-laoshi didn’t teach me anything about interviews, stop lying.”

He leaves the app then and spends a few minutes checking other texts and emails. He is contemplating whether walking all the way to the bathroom to shower will be worth the effort or he can just fall asleep where he is sitting just fine, when his phone vibrates with a message from Xiao Zhan.

The text bubble pops up and then disappears. There is no answer from Xiao Zhan for a few minutes although YiBo can still see that he is online. He reads through the short conversation again trying to figure out if it was something he said that put an abrupt pause to it, and he is surprised that such thought even rose in his mind, but before he can think about it more, there is a new message.

YiBo pushes himself up from the couch with a groan. He sways a bit when he stands up, but curiosity helps him make his way to the door. While he slowly walks to an elevator, he is going through possible scenarios for revenge plans in case if the package contains something ridiculous and Xiao Zhan is just laughing at him now.

Now, when they don’t work together on the same set, and YiBo can’t just hit and smack Xiao Zhan whenever he wants to, he has to be more creative in the ways to express himself when Xiao Zhan riles him up. 

He almost doses off in the elevator on his way down, but he can’t give up since he’s gotten that far, and, swaying and yawning, he heads to the long line of mail boxes on a wall and finds his own.

The amount of advertising brochures crammed in the box is impressive and he is slightly surprised something else has even fit there. There is a small flat package among all the bright paper, and the sticker on it says Xiao Zhan indeed sent it.

He pulls his phone out of his jeans pocket and sends a short, “Ok, I got it” before going back to the elevator.

YiBo tears open the package on his ride up and by the time he reaches his apartment, he takes out a thin silver chain with a familiar pendant in the form of a bull’s head on it.[ 2 ](https://twitter.com/thewangxianhell/status/1160773751199457280?s=21)

He puts the necklace on, turns on the lights in a room, takes a selfie with a tired but happy smile and sends it to Xiao Zhan.

Xiao Zhan goes offline after this. YiBo shrugs and, since he is already standing anyway, goes to the kitchen and rummages through the shelves. He purposely avoids looking into a fridge, figuring that even if there was anything edible there when he left his apartment several days ago, it has now probably evolved into something that would as well eat YiBo himself, and it might just be safer to leave it be behind the closed door. 

He finds one cup of instant noodles and boils some water for it. He is halfway through his meal when he gets a notification about a new message. 

YiBo pauses after the second “no” and raises his head from staring down on his phone to stare instead in the space before him blinking in confusion.

“Why?” he finally texts back and has to wait through long two minutes of a popping up and disappearing text bubble, while Xiao Zhan is either writing him a whole spiel or, most likely, deleting his first several attempts for an answer.

“It’s embarrassing”, finally appears in the chat and YiBo gapes at his screen immediately reacting with a string of question marks.

There is no answer, Xiao Zhan seemingly has closed the app altogether, and YiBo spends a few minutes looking stupidly at his friend's last text. He hums to himself eventually, and finishes his simple dinner, while absentmindedly scrolling through his Weibo feed. 

His phone vibrates on the table when he stands up to throw the empty cup in the garbage and he shakes his head when he sees the text. 

He is too tired to be arguing longer anyway, and he’s found that bantering with Xiao Zhan via text does not bring him the same satisfaction as when they are in the same room (and YiBo can start hitting Xiao Zhan when he is unable to come up with a more civil response right away), so he locks his phone, sends a sad look in the direction of his bedroom and walks to the bathroom.

He doesn’t think about that video until he is in bed and having soaked under hot shower for at least an hour ― he thinks he might have dozed off there for a bit, otherwise he can’t explain it to himself how it was that long.

He searches for it with one eye closed and his conscious nagging him about the perspective of regretting such late night tomorrow morning. But it doesn’t take long, the video he finds is a behind the scenes edit of his 21st birthday on the set of _ The Untamed _, and even though he remembers that day well, he didn’t really see Xiao Zhan’s face back then when he answered YiBo’s thanks.

It is not what YiBo expected when Xiao Zhan said it was embarrassing, but he likes what he sees, and he smiles in content rewatching that moment a couple of more times.

He disagrees that this might be in any way embarrassing for either of them, but the sincerity in Xiao Zhan’s smile when he says _ As long as you are happy, _ is so naked, that YiBo would regret that this moment was captured and put online if it didn’t allow him to see it as well. [ 3 ](https://youtu.be/gwZHiJoN9uo?t=114)

He is well aware that he falls asleep with a smile tugging on his lips. He wonders if he will get back to those memories in his dreams tonight. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I plan for several chapters and have some drafts for them, but I want to first see if people will be interested, so please let me know what you think and subscribe if you wanna read more.
> 
> _____
> 
> Used sources (also linked inside the chapter):  
1\. [ WYB giving an interview alone is very different from how he is when XZ is with him](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPOLt4Qf_Pg%20)  
2\. [Fans speculating that that necklace, that WYB wears everywhere now, was a gift from XZ (for sure that’s not what Yu Bin asked, but let’s dream)](https://twitter.com/thewangxianhell/status/1160773751199457280?s=21)  
3\. [XZ said “As long as you are happy” with the most sincere expression I ever seen on him when he talks with WYB and my heart melted tbh](https://youtu.be/gwZHiJoN9uo?t=114)


	2. First meeting.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _People like simple answers. They like getting an instant feedback to everything they do or say. And YiBo knows his lack of reaction keeps others at an arm’s length._   


Their first meeting is awkward.

Well, technically the set of  _ The Untamed _ is not the first time YiBo and Xiao Zhan have been in the same room, but that brief moment when they happened to both be in the  _ Day Day Up _ show is nothing to write home about [ 1 ](https://youtu.be/aa93CNHWTTc?t=17) , so YiBo is not going to count that.

YiBo doesn’t know much about the other actor, but his manager tells him Xiao Zhan apparently has a similar personality to the character he will be playing, and YiBo wouldn’t admit it outloud but it makes him feel uneasy. He has ― briefly ― read the novel the drama is based on and if his partner on set is similarly obnoxious as Wei WuXian, YiBo will definitely have a problem coming along with him. 

It is not that he dislikes cheery people, he considers himself quite cheery as well in the right circumstances, but the ones the type of Wei WuXian are chatterboxes, and as if constantly hearing their own voices is not enough for them, they try to coax everyone around them to behave the same way. 

And YiBo just doesn’t like talking. [ 2 ](https://youtu.be/aa93CNHWTTc?t=353)

So he frankly expects the worst when he arrives to the boot camp where the cast is about to spend two weeks in preparation for the shooting, and he and Xiao Zhan are officially introduced to one another.

And it is awkward. 

It is not a situation YiBo is unaccustomed with ― nearly all of his first meetings with people are like that: polite greetings, overly excited smiles of his new acquaintances and a tight lipped ones of YiBo himself, and he always sees that moment when their faces shift that tiny bit, eyes flicking to the side and then back to him. They seem uncertain of how to interact with someone who gives back so little to interpret. It drives them away. Not in that negative way when you dislike someone to the point when you’d prefer to never cross paths with this person again, but more in an uncomfortable  _ I don’t know what he is thinking _ one, and it is just simpler to find someone else whose face would be an open book.

He has nothing against people in general, he just considers it too much effort to be giving everyone he meets a benefit of the doubt until they actually proved themselves as someone he could be genuinely interested in. Some take it for arrogance, some consider him shy, but it is neither. He is just content enough with himself to feel no need in playing someone he is not in real life. 

People like simple answers. They like getting an instant feedback to everything they do or say. And YiBo knows his lack of reaction keeps others at an arm’s length. 

He doesn’t really mind. Those who are interested enough to learn if there is something else behind an unfriendly mask he is wearing, will find a way. 

So it is really not surprising that not being able to easily coax anything valuable from him, people come up with the theories of their own. For ones, he is cold and arrogant, for others he is wise and mysterious. 

He has a vague impression that the latter comes from his numerous female fans, when the most others just stick to the  _ cold _ .

Landing a role of Lan WangJi surely is just a natural outcome of this reputation. 

So he is prepared that his meeting with Xiao Zhan will go one of the usual ways all of his meeting with new people who are not his fans go: the other will either dislike YiBo on the spot for how cold he is (and YiBo has seen the signs often enough that he is sure he will recognise them), or will simply find YiBo boring and uninteresting (and this one is easy enough to see too).

It is neither of those, and it is even more awkward than YiBo could’ve possibly imagined. 

For one, Xiao Zhan is strikingly handsome. [ 3 ](https://youtu.be/aa93CNHWTTc?t=28) And YiBo knew that, alright, but it is one thing to see photos or occasionally stumble upon a video on Weibo, and completely different when it is a real person standing in front of him, looking all gorgeous and completely refusing to meet YiBo’s eyes. [ 4 ](https://youtu.be/aa93CNHWTTc?t=58)

YiBo has never seen that one and he realises not without amusement that for once he is on the other side of the usual  _ cold Wang YiBo - stranger  _ exchange. And the fact that Xiao Zhan hasn’t tried to drown YiBo in a wave after wave of inconsequential words like many people love doing, gives him a few extra points.

Not that YiBo is going to change his usual  _ wait and see _ tactics. Essentially, he is not here to make friends.

In the first table-read that day they manage to go through one scene without interacting with each other, and if it might be fine for Lan WangJi’s deliberately restrained responses to Wei WuXian’s teasing, Xiao Zhan not actually sparing YiBo an extra glance while reading his part sure is not what the script writers had in mind when making that scene.

They have to take a break after this, and while YiBo is quietly sipping his coffee in the corner, Xiao Zhan is talking with their producer looking rather confused. [ 5 ](https://youtu.be/XhY3XBg1vN8?t=192) Things go a bit smoother after and in a few more scenes YiBo finds that he doesn’t mind Xiao Zhan’s company at all. 

YiBo doesn’t notice at what point he takes off his hat, and by the end of the first day smiling and laughing at some of Xiao Zhan’s impressions comes almost natural to him. He breaks his own act two times out of three, when the urge to laugh is too high and he can’t keep the impassive Lan WangJi’s mask on his face.

The boot camp lasts two weeks and they are still a bit shy around each other by the end of the first one, but YiBo is looking forward to the next four months and is curious if by the end of the filming he will be able to say that he has acquired a new good friend. [ 6 ](https://twitter.com/starxsh/status/1155498803887104001?s=21)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please drop me a line in the comments, it will make my day ^_^
> 
> Used sources (also linked inside the chapter):  
1\. [Technically their first meeting was in Day Day Up](https://youtu.be/aa93CNHWTTc?t=17)  
2\. [ WYB and LWJ don’t like talking](https://youtu.be/aa93CNHWTTc?t=353)  
3\. [ WYB’s first impression of XZ - handsome](https://youtu.be/aa93CNHWTTc?t=28) (Just to be clear: I find XZ obviously good looking, but am not a big fan of such looks or personality. But I suppose, YiBo is, so here we are xD)  
4\. [ They admit they were shy around each other at first](https://youtu.be/aa93CNHWTTc?t=58)  
5\. [ XZ’s first impression of WYB in the boot camp](https://youtu.be/XhY3XBg1vN8?t=192)  
6\. [ “I made a new good friend” ](https://twitter.com/starxsh/status/1155498803887104001?s=21)
> 
> And some more:  
[WYB’s first impression of XZ was that he felt calm and peaceful near him, and XZ says WYB is only cold at first and then he is a warm person](https://youtu.be/Lr_CPwDBlgk?t=2289)  
[ XZ cries in the boot camp while reading his lines](https://youtu.be/xOFKf9g_rss?t=122)  
[ The producer/director decided to let WWX cry whenever XZ feels like he should](https://twitter.com/starxsh/status/1159413236812304385?s=21)  
[ WYB is impressed, that XZ can cry easily](https://youtu.be/56iN-YpWB-g?t=38)  
[ XZ is talking about his role and how emotionally painful it was sometimes for him ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94PDbkMA-rg)


	3. Your voice.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _As often with people who don’t really enjoy or feel the need in verbalizing what they feel Wang YiBo chooses actions over words to express it. In his case it is apparently a brute force, and he is hitting Xiao Zhan any time the other makes his emotional state sway away from its usual balance point._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can see in the tags, chapters will not be in a chronological order.  
This one is from XZ's POV.
> 
> PS. I messaged Ao3 wranglers to have this relationship tag marked as common, had no answer yet, but in any case it might take weeks from my experience =(

Xiao Zhan is sitting at a low table leaning on his hand and idly trying to blink tiredness from his eyes. They just gave another interview and have a scene to shoot in about an hour, and Xiao Zhan is planning to spend this hour right here without moving a muscle. His left leg is already a bit numb from a not too comfortable position, so he figures he might succeed in his intention. 

Wang YiBo, unsurprisingly, is full of energy and doing some dance that looks strange and strangely graceful at the same time. Something it probably owes to both the lack of any music and the fact that he is doing it while wearing his Lan WangJi’s clothes. 

Xiao Zhan would probably never get used to seeing Lan WangJi dancing freestyle, no matter how many times he sees it (and he sees it _ a lot _ ― Wang Yibo does a good job balancing his two favorite _ we-have-a-five-minute-break-between-the-scenes _activities which are dancing and hitting Xiao Zhan). 

Considering that Wang YiBo tends to keep his face all locked into that impassive expression when he dances, it is not hard to believe that it is indeed Lan WangJi doing something weird behind the long robes and sleeves that hide at least half of the moves (a damn shame if Xiao Zhan could say so himself) following a music that only he can hear. 

Xiao Zhan sighs and changes a hand he is leaning his chin on.

“Shame you don’t have more lines, Wang YiBo,” he says with a yawn. 

Wang Yibo does a spin on one of his knees that comes too close to something that might give one of the dressers on the set a heart attack and asks, a bit out of breath,

“More lines?”

“Yeah, more lines. With the voice you have, you know.” Xiao Zhan points in the general direction of Wang YiBo’s upper body because he is too tired and the boy is moving too fast to even try and aim his pointer finger at his throat. 

“Your voice is better, Xiao-laoshi,” Wang Yibo answers absentmindedly and finally stops, bending down to brush off his white robes.

“When it comes to singing, yeah,” Xiao Zhan draws lazily (even his tongue is feeling tired; heavens, and he has three pages of lines to declare in less than an hour…), “but―“

“You say you sing better than me?!” Wang YiBo suddenly screams, startling Xiao Zhan out of his lazy haze. Well, that solved the problem with barely staying awake...

“I said your voice sounds cool when you talk,” Xiao Zhan says and presses a hand at his chest dramatically. “You scared me here, Wang-laoshi, wow.”

Wang Yibo walks to the table and plants his hands on it, hovering over Xiao Zhan who has to bend his neck in an uncomfortable angle to be able to look up at the other actor.

“You said—“

“You dance better than me, Wang-laoshi,” Xiao Zhan says and turns his head a bit to make it easier for himself. “I sing better, but that’s not what—“

“I sing fine.” Wang YiBo emphasises his point by slapping one of his palms at the table and Xiao Zhan flinches again. God, is he fierce today. Did Xiao Zhan strike a sore point?

“—I’m talking about…” he finishes slowly and sighs. Wang Yibo is looking at him angrily (the usual expression his face falls into when he doesn’t specifically aim for something else) and a bit lost (which is new and uncomfortable). “Yeah, you sing fine, Wang-laoshi,” Xiao Zhan says patting Wang YiBo’s arm awkwardly. “I didn’t say you sing bad, I said that your voice—“

“You said you sing better!”

Xiao Zhan leans back on his hands and measures Wang YiBo with his best unimpressed stare. “I said your voice is cooler than mine when you talk.”

“When I talk.”

“Yes.”

Wang YiBo searches his face for something, straightens up and says, “Bullshit,” and then folds his arms and looks away.

Xiao Zhan squints up at him and he can swear he sees a pout forming on Wang YiBo’s lips. That kid… 

He sighs and reaches his foot under the table to poke Wang Yibo’s shin.

“I was trying to make you a compliment, can’t you just—“

“Xiao-laoshi was trying to make me a compliment by saying he sings better than me.” Wang Yibo kicks away the offending foot and finally sits down at the other side of the table. He is still pouting but it is ruined by one corner of his mouth pulling up in what Xiao Zhan knows will soon be a smile. 

“Ah, but you dance better than me.”

“I know.” There it is. A smile on Wang YiBo’s very smug face.

Xiao Zhan makes a show of rolling his eyes and pressing a hand to his heart.

“Can’t you be nicer, Wang YiBo?” he whines.

“No,” Wang YiBo’s smile widens and Xiao Zhan can’t help it but smile in return.

“No?”

“No.”

“I said I like your voice, YiBo, and you are mad at me, what is wrong with you, are you even a human?”

“You didn’t say you like my voice.”

“I said it’s cool!”

“It’s not the same.”

“It’s not—“ Xiao Zhan stops abruptly and takes a more careful look at his friend. Wang YiBo makes a wiggle with his brows and looks at him expectedly.

“Fine, fine! I like your voice,” Xiao Zhan finally says giving in.

Wang YiBo smiles brightly, then nods to himself and blinks, looking to the side. 

“You like my voice?” he asks.

“Yeah.”

Wang YiBo is staring in the space before him for another moment with an unreadable expression and Xiao Zhan leans forward again, planting his elbows on the table and breathing out. He should have about half an hour to get some rest before the next scene, so he will just― 

Something white flashes before his eyes and he gets smacked across the face with Wang YiBo’s long heavy sleeve.

“What— Ah, what are you hitting me for, Wang YiBo?!” Wang YiBo reaches forward and starts hitting his shoulders. The bastard is laughing. He always does when he bullies poor Xiao Zhan. Kids these days. No respect for elders. “I made you a compliment and you’re treating me so bad! Ouch!” Xiao Zhan covers his face with an arm and instantly receives a smack at it.

As often with people who don’t really enjoy or feel the need in verbalizing what they feel Wang YiBo chooses actions over words to express it. In his case it is apparently a brute force, and he is hitting Xiao Zhan any time the other makes his emotional state sway away from its usual balance point, as apparently happened just now. 

Xiao Zhan has been around Wang YiBo and on the receiving end of _ I don’t know how to react so I will just slap you _so much lately that he can point that moment when too many emotions accumulate in him and demand some release and letting them out directly by applying some force looks like an almost natural thing to do. 

So natural in fact when it comes to Wang YiBo, that Xiao Zhan doesn’t really mind it. He grumbles and complains but never actually specifically asks him to stop.

It is not always convenient, sure, but as much as it annoys him at times, it amuses him at others and so he doesn’t do anything to make Wang YiBo stop because in a weird way it reminds him of his school days where the little boys would hit and throw things at the girls they liked because they didn’t know how else to express their affection. 

And Wang YiBo is like those boys when he gets Xiao Zhan in his field of vision, and Xiao Zhan doesn’t know what to think of it. It confuses and flatters him in equal proportion and the force of Wang YiBo’s affection or whatever else it actually is, feels as unavoidable as a natural phenomenon, and so he just proudly accepts it. 

Hits keep landing on him and Xiao Zhan retaliates, laughing, and when he is not turning his face away to hide it from Wang YiBo’s long sleeves, he sees Wang YiBo smiling happily in return.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please drop me a line in the comments, it will make my day ^_^
> 
> Also, please take a look at the [ soulmates AU fic I wrote last year for WangXian.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15394911)
> 
> \-----
> 
> Some cool vids with the two boys arguing and hitting each other:  
1\. [ Montage of their fights on set](https://twitter.com/starxsh/status/1159015770480754688?s=21)  
2\. [ WYB likes to hit XZ and WYB looks upset that XZ doesn’t know why](https://youtu.be/56iN-YpWB-g?t=267)  
3\. [ Kamehameha!](https://youtu.be/2sAewMPYjw8?t=92)  
4\. [ Arguing (teasing) who works harder](https://youtu.be/OKNmzPWNivI?t=155)  
5\. [WYB showing some dance moves while in his LWJ clothes](https://youtu.be/2sAewMPYjw8?t=119)
> 
> **Next:** _Xiao Zhan is hands down the nicest person YiBo has ever met. _


	4. Too hot to be nice.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Tired Xiao Zhan is gloomy but vulnerable in a way that makes YiBo want to take care of him._   
_Xiao Zhan that’s ‘had enough of this fucking heat’ is another deal entirely._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the lovely comments to the first two chapters, I really appreciate them!
> 
> For some reason I'm not too happy with this chapter, probably because it is too cheesy for my taste, lol. But I hope you'll enjoy it.
> 
> WYB's POV.
> 
> **PS**. Got an answer from wranglers, as you can see the tag was added to common so it can now be favoritised and also the works there are displayed in chronological order as usual for tags. They will be [searching for new ppl to take care of The Untamed RPF tags.](https://twitter.com/ao3_wranglers/status/1163238924249997312)  
I also reported that many Chinese fics are posting under English, so hopefully it will be fixed, and we can more easily filter by language.

Xiao Zhan is hands down the nicest person YiBo has ever met. He has this kind and honest vibe about him and, setting aside their constant fights that most of the time are initiated by YiBo anyway, Xiao Zhan has the best sense of personal space among all the people YiBo knows. 

In his life when he can’t even get on a freaking plane without fans chasing after him and recording his every step[ 1 ](https://m.weibo.cn/5874584452/4406452603518271), the way Xiao Zhan is considerate toward not making YiBo uncomfortable is a breath of fresh air. 

It all goes down the drain when Xiao Zhan is shoved into the layers of his black clothing, heavy wig and then out under the merciless sun where he has to spend hours and hours of shooting. 

Because Xiao Zhan doesn’t like heat. 

No one on the set of _ The Untamed _is particularly fond of it, but Xiao Zhan seems to get affected the most. 

Heat tends to bring up the worst in him like neither lack of good sleep nor irregular meals do. 

On the rare days when the sky is cloudy and the heat goes a bit down and Xiao Zhan is just sleepy and tired (a normal state of pretty much everyone on the set), he is quiet, although a little gloomy, standing wherever someone on staff tells him to stand in preparation for a scene. He keeps his eyes half closed as if his eyelids are too heavy to fully open them, but closing them entirely would be too much of a risk for his barely noticeable swaying not to abruptly evolve into a complete loss of balance.[2](https://youtu.be/Wbpdvq8C-MA?t=34),[3](https://youtu.be/hNH5JYwHnZ8?t=75)

When their arrangement on the set allows it at such times, YiBo discreetly moves closer to Xiao Zhan letting the other man lean a part of his weight at YiBo’s back or shoulder. They never talk about it and Xiao Zhan never asks for this, but almost each time YiBo does it, Xiao Zhan mumbles quietly under his breath _ ‘Thanks, Bo-di’, _and sighs in content. 

They would stay like that until the staff is ready for a scene and then Xiao Zhan would give a full body shudder and turn to YiBo, whispering, 

“Quickly, Wang YiBo, hit me.” [ 4 ](https://youtu.be/bGWQIOoVtSM?t=617)

YiBo is always happy to oblige such a request and he slaps Xiao Zhan’s shoulder a couple of times. Xiao Zhan sways on his feet and blinks rapidly before shaking himself like a dog and finally focusing on YiBo’s face.

“Thanks, YiBo.” He smiles, shows YiBo thumbs-up and proceeds with a scene as if he wasn’t just nearly blacking out. 

He goes on this extra energy source until the cut, and then slumps against YiBo again muttering, “Next time hit me harder, YiBo.”

Tired Xiao Zhan is gloomy but vulnerable in a way that makes YiBo want to take care of him. 

Xiao Zhan that’s _ ‘had enough of this fucking heat’ _ is another deal entirely. 

This Xiao Zhan gets into an Old Geezer mode and complains and grouches about every little thing. 

He doesn’t like to be touched (not to mention — hit, though that he probably never particularly likes, not that YiBo cares) and clings to his portative little fan, sending death glares in the direction of those who don’t have the fans of their own (assumingly taking them as rivals for the little piece of equipment, that YiBo is convinced not so much as helps but only makes Xiao Zhan more annoyed by teasing him with a promise of colder air that it obviously never delivers), and envious ones at those who have them. 

YiBo, as probably the one who spends his time on set with Xiao Zhan the most, gets the fiercest stares, for the reason YiBo can’t really figure out ― his working theory is that Xiao Zhan hates him a little bit for never having to use a fan of his own. 

YiBo thinks that if possible Xiao Zhan would’ve collected all the fans on the set, put them down in a circle, lie down in the middle and never move. 

YiBo knows Xiao Zhan’s black clothing with the thick leather elements make it tougher for him. He is grabbing onto his portative fan and pulling up his robes as soon as they cut to let his legs breath a bit, and shoots daggers at a couple of floor air conditioner tubes that are _ always _ occupied by someone either octopusing themselves around them, or shoving their head inside. [ 5 ](https://twitter.com/heyyitisalex/status/1159160859249262592?s=20) , [ 6 ](https://www.instagram.com/p/B1JfR-egLVV/?igshid=18l3i4ok9gxk9)

He works his jaw looking annoyed and YiBo loves to choose this moment to rile him up with some rousing comment. 

YiBo pulls up his robes as well, not because he really needs to but because it’s what they do and also because it annoys Xiao Zhan even more since he knows that YiBo is doing that just to imitate him and possibly make fun of his skinny legs. 

YiBo feels fine in his light clothes, besides he’s gotten used to feeling constantly warm since he started riding a motorcycle — the helmet and thick layers of not always breathable gear is a must whether you just ride a bike as a commute or go on a track with it; and one of the first things you learn is that you either endure and get used to the sweat and heat you get under all that gear, or you better never get close to a bike again. 

YiBo tells Xiao Zhan that when the other notes his lack of complaints on the weather. Xiao Zhan gives him a heavy look above his fan and makes a nonchalant comment that is build as a compliment but they both know is meant to rile YiBo up. YiBo readily takes the bait and they fall in their usual bickering that the crew is already so familiar with that no one even spares them another glance when it grows more violent and YiBo starts hitting Xiao Zhan with delight. 

It lasts until Xiao Zhan’s lets out a low whine and retreats, falling silent, too drained to continue.[ 7 ](https://youtu.be/OKNmzPWNivI?t=414) He looks at YiBo with the eyes of a beaten puppy who would however bite your hand off if you come any closer. 

It is so easy to make a wrong impression of someone when the majority of time you spend around them they are exhausted and have no energy to be nice.

But YiBo knows that this is not all that Xiao Zhan is, and he is grateful to be having to spend that much time together on the set, because that has made them practically join in the hip, and he not only gets Xiao Zhan’s Old Geezer’s remarks, but also the better part of him, with warm bright smiles and worried glances when someone tells Xiao Zhan that an actor has fainted on the set the other day when Xiao Zhan was away.[ 8 ](https://youtu.be/OKNmzPWNivI?t=71)

“Are you okay, Bo-di?”

And after a long day of fierce sun, of bickering that to the outside would probably look like a genuine fight, that it never is, because neither of them ever mean it seriously,* they go to the little building the staff and cast rents. They get to their respective tiny rooms, that also don’t have any air conditioners but have cold water in a sink and a few bottles of it in a fridge, and there is a big floor fan in Xiao Zhan’s room that YiBo sneaked in for him once. 

And after YiBo takes a shower and changes into simple sweatpants and a t-shirt, more days than not there is a knock on his door, and he opens it to Xiao Zhan with still wet from shower hair, who is blinking sleepily and smiling tiredly but there is nothing left of those sharp edges he had during the day. He looks soft in his comfort clothes, with no wig and make-up, and with that gentle smile on his lips, as if he is just glad to be here but also like he is apologising for something YiBo doesn’t need for him to apologise for. 

He is pressing a bottle with cold water to his stomach under his t-shirt, and holding a notebook with their lines for the next couple of scenes in his other hand. 

He sits down on the floor near YiBo’s bed, and goes through all his lines for tomorrow. YiBo is lying on his stomach on the bed, watching Xiao Zhan turn the pages of the script, and adding his simple “Mm” here and there[9](https://m.weibo.cn/2096541213/4406869306848667).

It never really lasts long, that after a long tiresome day, and Xiao Zhan eventually falls silent, closing the script and letting out a long sigh. 

When Xiao Zhan is tired he is quiet. It is never that awkward silence that rises when people run out of topics to fill in the pauses in the conversation with. 

It is peaceful and comforting, and they rest this way until Xiao Zhan’s eyes start closing, and then YiBo shakes him awake, and nudges him out of the room, because if Xiao Zhan doesn’t get at least a few hours of sleep he will be gloomy right from the start of the day tomorrow, and YiBo won’t be able to help himself and not provoke him to a fight, but even that would be fine, because at the end of the day they will get back to the house, and their respective little rooms―

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sources used (also linked inside the chapter):  
1\. [ Fans stalking WYB on a plane](https://m.weibo.cn/5874584452/4406452603518271)  
2\. [ Tired XZ barely standing upright](https://youtu.be/Wbpdvq8C-MA?t=34)  
3\. [Sleepy XZ](https://youtu.be/hNH5JYwHnZ8?t=75)  
4\. [ XZ asks WYB to hit him to wake up](https://youtu.be/bGWQIOoVtSM?t=617)  
5\. [ Condition tubes](https://twitter.com/heyyitisalex/status/1159160859249262592?s=20)  
6\. [ A line to a conditioner tube ](https://www.instagram.com/p/B1JfR-egLVV/?igshid=18l3i4ok9gxk9)  
7\. [ You started. Not, you!](https://youtu.be/OKNmzPWNivI?t=414)  
8\. [ Too hot to shoot, XZ is worried](https://youtu.be/OKNmzPWNivI?t=71)  
9\. [ WYB has very few lines](https://m.weibo.cn/2096541213/4406869306848667)
> 
> * I saw some interview I think with XZ, where he said that some people who see them fight think they are serious about that, and this surprises him, cause he and WYB were just messing around and having fun. But I can’t find this video now =(
> 
> [ The bestest BTS imo](https://youtu.be/OKNmzPWNivI)
> 
> [ XZ had enough of this shit](https://youtu.be/zBhxC8D8GBQ)
> 
> **Next:** _ “Everyday means everyday”_ *wink wink*


	5. "天天就是天天."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Everyday means everyday, gege,” Wang YiBo says with not even a ghost of a smile, and Xiao Zhan’s next response is stuck in his throat. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> XZ's POV.
> 
> In a rare case you've been living under a rock and the phrase _Everyday means everyday_ doesn't at all sound familiar to you, I recommend you reading [chapter 111 of the _Mó Dào Zǔ Shī_ novel](https://exiledrebelsscanlations.com/gdc-chapter-111/) before you proceed to this chapter...
> 
> ...That is also heavily based on the way YiBo’s face twitches when he tries not to laugh and the teeny tiny pauses they often take before reacting to smth dumb the other said.  
[This short video](https://youtu.be/tqsO3TpZ1R8) demonstrates this in a nutshell and I recommend watching it before reading the chapter.  
Enjoy! 
> 
> Also, I'd really appreciate, if you share this fic on your social media accounts or with friends who also love CQL.
> 
> PS. MY OCD demands at least some semi-chronological order, so I might be moving some chapters around once in a while, so don't be surprised.

Xiao Zhan is lying on the bed in his room, limbs sprouted in all directions like an octopus, a big floor fan (not those tiny useless substitutes he has on the set, but the serious one, bless Wang Yibo’s soul for snitching it for Xiao Zhan) is blowing warm room air at him on a max speed. He has a bottle with tap water in one hand, three askew holes in its cap he managed to pluck out earlier with a pocket knife, and he is turning it over himself every few minutes making a little artificial rain. 

The sheet under him is warm, wet and disgusting, he would sell his soul for an air conditioner right now, but still it is better than nothing and wins ten times against what he has to endure every day under the scalding sun. 

He contemplates whether he should change the soaked sheet before sleep, but he is too exhausted to move a muscle and thinks it wouldn’t be that bad to just fall asleep like that. Surely in such heat the sheets will dry by morning anyway. 

There is a brief knock on his door and he squints open his eyes and groans aiming for something that should intimidate an unwelcome guest to leave but sounds too weak and high pitched, and he can’t find it in himself to care. 

The knocking sounds again, gradually progressing into pounding and he wonders what can possibly be so urgent that might require his attention at one in the morning. 

“Zhan-ge, open up!”

Xiao Zhan raises his eyes to the ceiling and then covers them with his unoccupied arm.

“Open up, gege!”

Xiao Zhan shakes some more water out of the bottle on himself and breaths out soundly.

“Go away, didi,” he rasps, moves his arm aside and turns the bottle over his face. It dribbles lazily on his face and he blinks when a drop of water falls in one of his eyes. 

Wang YiBo knocks again and tries the door handle. Xiao Zhan mentally pats himself on the back for locking it earlier. 

“I’ll stay here all night if you don’t open, and will knock every few minutes,” the brat declares, and, sure, Xiao Zhan loves his friend (it is probably just a defence mechanism in this case though, otherwise Wang YiBo would’ve driven Xiao Zhan crazy already after the first month of having to spend every day on the set together) but right now he hates him so very, very much. 

With a groan he slowly rises up from the bed and drags himself to the door. 

“What do you want?” He asks grumpily, once it’s open. 

Wang YiBo gives him what could only be considered a onceover, raises his brows and pushes past Xiao Zhan in the room with a smile way too wide for a long and hard day they had. 

This boy is not a human, he is just something else entirely. And often in a bad way. Like right now. 

Xiao Zhan closes the door, walks back to the bed and falls on it face first.

“Whatever you’re here for, Wang YiBo, I don’t wanna know,” he mumbles in his pillow. 

“Dance practice,” Wang YiBo declares and lightly kicks Xiao Zhan’s shin that hangs from the bed. 

Xiao Zhan rolls to his side, and gives Wang YiBo a hard stare. 

“You're a lunatic,” he says, looking at the other with disbelief. 

“Zhan-ge, you asked me yesterday to give you some lessons. You said you need more practice,” Wang YiBo answers and pulls at Xiao Zhan’s pant-leg lightly. “C’mon.”

Xiao Zhan grabs on the waistband of his sweatpants giving Wang YiBo his best scandalised expression, and crawls back from this crazy person until his back hits the headboard.

“Why are you like this, Wang YiBo,” he whines, pulling his knees to his chest.

The boy is six years younger than him but Xiao Zhan has never gotten to see him act on his almost-twenty-one. Half the time Wang YiBo is inhumanly composed and efficient. For instance, he never complaints. Neither on the heat nor the lack of sleep. In fact, Xiao Zhan is not sure if he ever even seen him looking tired. He can go on on a few hours of sleep for days and still have energy to mess around between the takes while Xiao Zhan would be sweating his balls off clinging to his pocket fan for the dear life and hoping not to faint (he would _ try _ not to, but he often doesn’t have the energy for it anymore, so hope is what is left for him). And the resilient brat doesn’t even use a fan! And has energy every day to practice his dancing that he is now trying to pull Xiao Zhan into. 

And the rest of the time Wang YiBo would be running from Xiao Zhan screaming because Xiao Zhan has a teeny tiny bug between his fingers[ 1 ](https://youtu.be/gwZHiJoN9uo?t=34) and then would be running after Xiao Zhan to beat a life out of him, and would look equally amused by the fact that he is hitting Xiao Zhan — something that has never failed to bring him to high spirits — and the way the long sleeves of his Lan WangJi costume would be flying around when he waves his hands. [ 2 ](https://youtu.be/f5qdpRKxqWM?t=18)

Wang YiBo pushes the hair from his face with slightly annoyed gesture and kicks the bed.

“Like what?”

“It’s nearly one in the morning, YiBo, we can’t do it now, I’m too tired!” Xiao Zhan slips down in the bed to lie on his back and pulls one of the pillows over his face.

“You said you wanted to practice every day.”

“I exaggerated, okay?” Xiao Zhan realises his voice sounds too muffled, so he pushes the pillow back and squints at Wang YiBo. “And how are you so energetic, Wang YiBo? We had all the scenes together today, shouldn’t you be at least a bit tired?”

“Everyday means everyday, gege,” Wang YiBo says with not even a ghost of a smile, and Xiao Zhan’s next response is stuck in his throat. 

He sits in the bad, and gapes at Wang YiBo. 

“So not funny, YiBo,” he says carefully.

Wang YiBo tilts his head and there is a question in his eyes.

“Huh?” he just says, and Xiao Zhan throws both the pillow and the half empty bottle at him.

“Ow! What was that for, ge!” Wang YiBo screams and attempts to catch Xiao Zhan across the face with the newly acquired pillow, but Xiao Zhan dodges on time.

“Don’t say that!” Now two pillows fly in Wang YiBo’s direction and he catches both of them and hits Xiao Zhan’s legs, driving Xiao Zhan out of the bed that now stand between the two. 

“You told me yourself—“

“You can’t use that quote like this!”

Wang YiBo straightens up and drops one of the pillows on the bed, pushing his hair from his eyes.

“Quote?” he asks in confusion.

“You’ve read the novel, right?” Xiao Zhan asks him.

“Briefly.”

“Briefly… Whatever, just don’t say it.”

“What? Everyday means everyday?”

Xiao Zhan spares him another scandalised glance and crawls back on the bed, pulling the second pillow from Wang Yibo’s fingers. He has a distant thought that Wang YiBo is just messing with him, but it doesn’t settle — the boy looks genuinely confused for Xiao Zhan to believe that he really has no idea what is wrong with what he is saying. 

“Saying it with a straight face like that, are you even a human, Wang YiBo?”

“Why? Why can’t I say it?”

Xiao Zhan straightens up on the bed and covers his eyes with an arm. “Just don’t.”

“Tell me where’s this quote from!” 

Wang Yibo starts pulling on Xiao Zhan’s fingers, trying to lift his arm from his face and Xiao Zhan has to reach and pinch Wang YiBo’s slender hip until the other jumps away with a squeak, not without landing a couple of loud smacks on Xiao Zhan’s stomach.

“Go away, Wang YiBo, I’m tired,” Xiao Zhan mumbles turning on his side with his back to his offender. This might not be very wise, but this way it is also more likely that Wang YiBo will have some mercy and will just let him be. 

“Tell me, Xiao-laoshi!” Wang YiBo lightly nudges his shoulder with what Xiao Zhan suspects is his foot and then adds with a sly smile in his voice, “Is it something dirty?”

“Shut up.”

“It’s something dirty, isn’t it?!”

Xiao Zhan turns around and looks up. Wang YiBo is hovering over him with a wide grin. 

“Why are you so excited over this, Wang YiBo?” Xiao Zhan asks rising on his elbows and instantly gets one of the pillows pulled from under him and smacked at his chest. 

“Tell me!”

“No! Stop hitting me! Why are you hitting me!” He covers behind one arm and blindly waves the other in a fruitless attempt to retaliate. 

“C’mon, Zhan-ge, tell me!”

“Hitting me in my own room— Ow! I already have bruises from earlier!” Xiao Zhan screams falling on his back and trying to kick Wang YiBo with his feet. Big mistake, because his ankles are quickly grabbed in a tight hold of the bony fingers and Wang YiBo bends down to pinch Xiao Zhan’s waste. 

“Bullshit, you don’t have any bruises!”

“Oi, what are you doing?!”

“I see no bruises.”

Xiao Zhan finally gets his ankles free from his abuser and crawls back in the bed to nurse on his injured dignity. 

“You bruise my soul, Wang YiBo! Bullying me! Your gege! Be nicer!”

“Tell me where the quote is from!”

“I’m not telling you anything, go away! Go, leave me alone! Can I have at least a few hours without you hitting me?!”

Wang YiBo watches him for a moment, shrugges and steps back to the only chair Xiao Zhan has in his room. 

“Fine, I’ll just find it myself,” he says, sitting down and pulling his phone from a pocket of his sweatpants. 

“Yeah, whatever, man, just do it in your own room, and let your gege sleep,” Xiao Zhan says grumpily and turns away, closing his eyes. 

When he wakes up, it is still dark outside, the light on his nightstand is still on, he is still hot and sweaty and his big floor fan is still not doing much with it. 

What is more surprising though, is that Wang YiBo is also still in his room. He looks up from his phone and smirks at Xiao Zhan with one side of his mouth. 

“You drool when you sleep,” he says. That brat. 

Xiao Zhan props himself on one elbow and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. 

“You’re still here, Wang YiBo?” He asks tiredly, reaching for his phone on the nightstand. Ten past two, great. And they need to be on the set at seven. 

“Didn’t think you’d just fall asleep like that,” Wang YiBo says going back to whatever it is he’s doing on his phone. ”You really just blacked out. Guess, the older you get…” He doesn’t finish and shakes his head. 

Xiao Zhan sits up and looks around for the water bottle. 

“What are you even doing?!”

“Reading.”

“Can’t you read in your own room?” He stands up and goes to retrieve the bottle from under the chair, where it probably rolled when they were fighting earlier. “What are you reading?”

Wang YiBo tries to block Xiao Zhan from reaching under the chair, but Xiao Zhan shoves his legs away and grabs the bottle. It is almost empty, but he makes sure he looks triumphal when he straightens up and pours the remaining water over his head. 

Wang YiBo looks up at him and opens his mouth to say something, but then closes it and grins. He wiggles his brows and Xiao Zhan knows not to expect anything good when he looks in his phone again and starts reading in English,

“_He was already feeling quite sore and uncomfortable yet the three fingers were still quite a few sizes smaller than what he’d been swallowing— _“

Xiao Zhan brushes his wet hair from his face and sits down on the edge of the bed. 

“What on Earth is that, Wang YiBo?”

“Wait, wait, Zhan-ge,” Wang YiBo says, waving a finger at him. He sends him another smug smirk and continues reading. “_ He interrupted, ‘Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, uh, s-stop for a bit’,” _ Wang YiBo reads with a poor impression of Xiao Zhan’s Wei WuXian. _ “Is it really alright like this? You sure you didn’t get it wrong? It’s here? I think it’s a bit… _ ” [ 3 ](https://exiledrebelsscanlations.com/gdc-chapter-111/)

He pauses and winks at Xiao Zhan. He looks way too smug and Xiao Zhan just wants to slap him, but the realisation of what Wang YiBo just read dawns at him and he feels his cheeks heat up. 

“Where did you even find it, it is supposed to be censored out!”

Wang YiBo’s grin gets wider. He puts his phone away and leans forward, putting his elbows on his knees. 

“It is, but not from the english translation, as you could hear.” He then pulls on a serious face and shakes his head dramatically, clicking his tongue. Xiao Zhan fights the urge to roll his eyes just from seeing this. He has a pretty good idea what will follow. 

“What a shame it is all cut out of the script,” Wang YiBo says and Xiao Zhan can see the corners of his lips twitching in a barely held back smile. “That with Xiao-laoshi handsome face, such a wasted opportunity,” he declares dramatically and smiles with his mouth closed. Xiao Zhan can clearly see a challenge written all across his face. 

Rising to it is by now almost a reflex. 

“Better think about your face, Wang-laoshi. So small and handsome, it probably gets all distorted during sexy-time,” Xiao Zhan retorts. 

“Wanna find out?” Wang YiBo deadpans immediately and then burst into laughter, raising his hand to cover his mouth, when Xiao Zhan just gapes at him. 

“Can’t — it’s all cut out of the script.”

Wang YiBo takes a grip of his laughter and presses a hand to his chest dramatically. 

“Pity,” he says and smirks again. 

Xiao Zhan rolls his eyes and stands up gesturing for Wang YiBo to do the same. 

“Can’t believe you were reading porn in my room,” Xiao Zhan says, grabbing Wang YiBo’s elbow and pulling him toward the door. “Youth these days…”

Wang YiBo frees himself and clears his throat turning to Xiao Zhan. 

“Shameless,” he says with his best Lan WangJi’s impression, and Xiao Zhan actually laughs with him this time. 

“That’s it, Wang YiBo, get your ass out of my room already,” he says pushing the laughing boy toward the door. 

“You sure, Zhan-ge? That’s one nice ass. You know, with all the dancing I do...”

Xiao Zhan keeps a hold of Wang YiBo’s shirt collar in one hand, and reaches to the door handle with the other. He can see Wang YiBo’s doing some brows wiggling from the corner of his eye and tries not to look in threat of not being able to hold another burst of laughter down. 

“Go away, Wang YiBo.” He opens the door and pushes the grinning boy into the corridor. 

“What, no goodnight kiss?..”

Xiao Zhan closes the door before Wang YiBo’s nose and lets out a heavy sigh. 

He can hear Wang YiBo’s soft laughter through the door and then a quiet and surprisingly somewhat serious,

“Sleep well, Zhan-ge.”

There is a sound of steps and then the door of the room next to his opens and closes, and silence follows. 

Xiao Zhan hops down on the bed and turns off the little lamp on it. He is setting up the alarm on his phone when he gets a message from Wang YiBo with a link.

He knows he will regret opening it but he does it nonetheless. 

It is to the part of the novel Wang YiBo was reading for him outloud. 

The problem with reading the _Mó Dào Zǔ Shī_ now for him is that he is too accustomed to his own role of Wei WuXian and is too used to be seeing Wang YiBo as Lan WangJi, that he can’t really imagine some other faceless characters in their places even if he tries.[4](https://youtu.be/75XQDIKhpGU?t=217)

That night is the first time when the cold shower he takes is completely unrelated to a hot weather.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think! I love chatting with you, guys!
> 
> Used sources (also linked inside the chapter)::  
1\. [ WYB 21 bday, XZ is chasing him with a bug](https://youtu.be/gwZHiJoN9uo?t=34)  
2\. [ WYB is playing with his long sleeves ](https://youtu.be/f5qdpRKxqWM?t=18)  
3\. [ English translation of the GDC on Exiled Rebels Scanlations. Chapter 111](https://exiledrebelsscanlations.com/gdc-chapter-111/)  
4\. [ XZ immersed himself in his role too much](https://youtu.be/75XQDIKhpGU?t=217)
> 
> Also, I watched a few more interview with them, and seriously, they have such smooth dynamics, it is amazing, they understand each other so well, seem to be always on one page, finishing each other's sentences, this is wonderful. Please, scream with me about it!
> 
> **Next**: _Wang YiBo is chasing him around the dressing room with a camera in his hands..._


	6. Smile!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _He has the kind of smile that always takes by surprise. His usual impassive expression seems so rigid like his face is cut out of stone, that when his lips suddenly curl in a wide soft smile, it rearranges his face so drastically that it takes a moment to adjust to this change and accept that it is the same person in front of you who just a minute ago was measuring you with a death glare._   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it took faster than I thought xD
> 
> Beware of shitton of links inside. Sorry, not sorry xD
> 
> Grand thanks and hugs to everyone who is engaging with me in fangirling and fanboying (who knows, don't wanna exclude anyone) in the comments to this fic! <3

Wang YiBo is chasing him around the dressing room with a camera in his hands. God knows how he got a hand on one, probably some unfortunate camera man turned away for a moment long enough for the brat to snitch it. 

It is probably not recording — none of them would risk erasing an important footage for the sake of messing around — but Wang YiBo makes a good show that it does, shoving it in Xiao Zhan’s face and making close takes of his legs, while letting out idiotic comments.[ 1 ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUZ0UPXyIbc)

They are running back and forth, slipping between the staff and cast members who are getting ready for the next scenes and most likely deliberately ignoring the commotion — when you spend every day and sometimes nights around the same people, most of whom are in permanent state of tiredness from the never-ending heat, too many people to share it with and the lack of sleep, you learn to either get loose once in a while or you generously ignore whichever way other people choose to make themselves feel a bit better. 

For some it is reading, others plug their ears with headphones once they get a chance; Zhu Zan Jin seem to be constantly eating, eyes glued to his phone.[ 2 ](https://twitter.com/Miniorchid/status/1158805324838473729?s=20)

For Wang YiBo it is bullying Xiao Zhan every spare moment when they are not shooting. He has the nerve to insist it is the opposite, in fact.[ 3 ](https://youtu.be/OKNmzPWNivI?t=222)

Considering that he is playing a character that keeps a poker face 100% of the time it is really notable that he spends most of his time on the set laughing and messing around. 

Xiao Zhan can’t really recall how exactly that happened, at what point and in what circumstances Wang YiBo first discarded his Snow Prince mask and let himself smile to Xiao Zhan. Right now, when each time they cut Wang YiBo’s lips curl in a smile when his eyes meet Xiao Zhan’s it is hard to imagine that there might have been a time when things were different.

Probably, though, it was a very very short time anyway.

Xiao Zhan is not sure what exactly he does that makes Wang YiBo, who is usually quite composed and unexpressive, feel so free around him, but he is secretly honored to be among the few people (there must be others who affect Wang YiBo is such a way, right?) who can make him smile.

And he has the kind of smile that always takes by surprise. His usual impassive expression seems so rigid like his face is cut out of stone, that when his lips suddenly curl in a wide soft smile, it rearranges his face so drastically that it takes a moment to adjust to this change and accept that it is the same person in front of you who just a minute ago was measuring you with a death glare. 

It is not really rare but it is precious in the way it appears, like it is being gifted to the observer who should appreciate it thoroughly before YiBo wipes it off his face like it was never there.

One might think that Xiao Zhan should’ve gotten used to it by now, that considering that these days he sees Wang YiBo more often smiling than not, but the novelty of it doesn’t seem to be fading any bit. 

There is just something about such kind of people who are too serious for their age, too isolated, that vibe they give like they don’t care about what people think, don’t care about other people in general, to even let themselves be amused by something enough to actually smile.

Or perhaps it is just Wang YiBo. 

Because really, these kind of smiles, once you see it, you can’t help yourself but be drawn to it, can’t help but start doing everything in your power just to see it again.

Xiao Zhan considers himself a happy person, and so he genuinely enjoys seeing others happy as well. 

It is a special kind of warm feeling, seeing usually so stoic Wang YiBo react on the smile Xiao Zhan gives him or a joke he tells, and smile or laugh in return. This makes Xiao Zhan’s smile even wider and it just loops on itself and as a result they can’t even look at each other for longer than half a minute without starting to grin and eventually bursting into laughter[ 4 ](https://youtu.be/bGWQIOoVtSM?t=566). 

This gets them into trouble more than once. 

Xiao Zhan feels like he is back at school, having to apologize for his misbehavior before his peers and elders[ 5 ](https://youtu.be/orMjwysEn2s?t=12) , but he can’t find it in himself to regret or stop. One of them throws in a joke and any resemblance to a serious mood is done for for the rest of the day. [ 6 ](https://youtu.be/XhY3XBg1vN8?t=149) How they even manage to get something done is really beyond his understanding. [ 7 ](https://youtu.be/kklOWwcRLvA?t=794) At least he always has a lot of lines to say and faces to make, and he can let out at least part of that energy (blessed be Wei WuXian’s mischievous nature), and he can only quietly admire Wang YiBo’s ability to instantly turn off his laughter and freeze his face in Lan WangJi’s unmoving mask. 

And now this chasing around the dressing room, like they are not both past their teen years already, like Xiao Zhan doesn’t have whole six years on Wang YiBo.

Xiao Zhan is hiding his face behind his arm, his phone in another, camera pointing at Wang YiBo. He taps recording on the screen, although he doesn’t have to, but behind the stolen camera Wang YiBo is smiling, eyes joyful, and as much as Xiao Zhan makes a show of complaining of how his younger peer treats him, he is secretly proud that he is the only one on set who can make the kid smile that much. 

Much later, when after in one of the interviews he is giving with Wang YiBo between the takes, Xiao Zhan calls him that — a kid[ 8 ](https://youtu.be/56iN-YpWB-g?t=96) — he is punished by YiBo snitching his phone and then filling his camera roll with at least a dozen videos made on a front camera, with Wang YiBo heatedly declaring in grand details how wounded he is by the way his gege treats him. In all of them he has that face of his when he is almost smiling just barely holding back a grin, that gives him a bit of a smug cat look. Xiao Zhan absolutely adores it, and there is no way he ever telling his friend this in any other context than just teasing him.

Xiao Zhan watches all the videos later, when the phone is returned to him, and saves them to the same album he stores the video with Wang YiBo “filming” him and all the random photos and selfies Xiao Zhan gets from him on a regular basis. He is unsure why Wang YiBo sends him that many[ 9 ](https://www.instagram.com/p/B1iSLtrAzQP/?igshid=116h0ha508p82), considering they see each other pretty much every day anyway, and even less sure why he keeps saving them. 

He explains it to himself as just having this collection as an aesthetic — Wang YiBo does have a very pretty face that Xiao Zhan is not afraid to admit on multiple occasions[ 10 ](https://youtu.be/tqsO3TpZ1R8?t=41). To Wang YiBo, who once peeped over his shoulder and much to his pleasure discovered that Xiao Zhan has a whole album of his photos (that triggered an even bigger wave of selfies sent Xiao Zhan’s way), he explains it as something he keeps as compromate for later. 

Wang YiBo clearly prefers the first version as it strokes his narcissistic ego. 

And Xiao Zhan is not really sure which one is closer to the truth. Not that he can’t find thousands of Wang YiBo’s photos on the internet if only he pleases to do so. But there is something that makes him smile in those messages Wang YiBo sends, attaching his selfie to it: “Do I look handsome from this angle, Xiao-laoshi?”

Truth be told Wang YiBo is horrible in taking selfies. He all just tenses up when he does it and turns up looking like a deer in the headlights in the resulting picture. A very very young deer.[ 11 ](https://m.weibo.cn/status/4349893994778451)

Which Xiao Zhan doesn’t hesitate to tell him that each of such times, getting mocked about his “old age” in return.

That’s how it goes for them from pretty much first week since they’ve met, and Xiao Zhan wouldn’t change a thing.

They are on the way to the place they are staying at after a long hot day on the set. At least half the cast and some of the crew are squeezed in on a bus that was definitely not designed to fit that many people. But they manage, and everyone is exhausted enough to not care much about being squished between their peers. 

Xiao Zhan is sitting near the isle, pressed hard against the armrest of his seat by Yu Bin, who is dosing off with his head hung, and one of the members of operators crew, who is clenching some piece of equipment to his chest like his dear baby, staring into the dark void behind the bus window and probably just sleeping with his eyes open. 

This gives Xiao Zhan an idea and after some awkward wiggling he manages to pull out his phone from the pocket of his jeans. 

The connection is poor, but the ride is slow and he is bored anyway, and after some time he finally finds and downloads the gif he’s been searching for. 

He peeks down the aisle where YiBo is sitting in the back of the bus to check if he is sleeping. The boy has his hat low on his eyes, but the screen of his phone he is holding is active, so Xiao Zhan hums to himself and opens the messenger on his phone.

_ The Brat _ is the top one in his active chats — despite seeing too much of each other on set practically every day, they’ve fallen into a habit of sending each other gifs and funny videos at the end of each day (and Wang YiBo’s selfies, of course). Wang YiBo, for someone his age, is surprisingly inactive on the Internet when it comes to actively participating and not googling his own photos, [ 12 ](https://youtu.be/s1WerqPC1pQ?t=183) and Xiao Zhan has gotten a few good laughs teasing him about not recognising some old but popular memes. 

_ ‘Wang-laoshi, I just realised it must be lonely falling asleep w/o ur boyfriend now when u r separated for so long _’, he texts and can’t keep a giggle falling from his lips. 

Wang YiBo pops in online and there is a long pause after he’s read the message before he answers with a long string of question marks. 

Xiao Zhan bites his fist to keep himself from bursting into laughter, attaches the gif[ 13 ](https://twitter.com/zhansyibo/status/1159095560558669826?s=21) he found to the message and sends it with no other commentary. 

After a few moments he hears some shifting in the back of the bus and, dying to see Wang YiBo’s reaction, he looks around the back of his seat. The moment his face peeks out he gets a sneaker in it. It hurts his pride more than his nose that he caught it with. 

Liu Hai Kuan wakes up across the aisle and throws a very accusatory glance at him. 

Wang YiBo is making faces at Xiao Zhan from the back of the bus and shifting in his seat clearly anxious to get up and beat the living shit out of him. 

Xiao Zhan shows him a tongue and keeps the sneaker. 

Later in the house Wang YiBo follows him all the way to his room while beating him with the other one until Xiao Zhan releases his hostage. 

Only one week is left and then filming of _ The Untamed _ will be over and they will all have to move on with their lives and careers. 

For the first time since Xiao Zhan has started acting and learnt to move on after finishing each project, there is something he is not ready to say goodbye to and he really hopes that perhaps he won’t have to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please, scream with me about Yibo's smile!
> 
> Used sources (also linked inside the chapter):  
1\. [ Chasing in the makeup room](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUZ0UPXyIbc)  
2\. [ Zhu Zan Jin eating](https://twitter.com/Miniorchid/status/1158805324838473729?s=20)  
3\. [ WYB complains that XZ bullies him](https://youtu.be/OKNmzPWNivI?t=222) (what a liar!)  
4\. [ They can’t look at each other for more than 2 secs without laughing](https://youtu.be/bGWQIOoVtSM?t=566) (so adorable omg)  
5\. [ Jian Cheng's actor says they are constantly laughing, and had to even apologize to him](https://youtu.be/orMjwysEn2s?t=12)  
6\. [ XZ says they were laughing all the time on set](https://youtu.be/XhY3XBg1vN8?t=149)  
7\. [ They laughed so hard, could barely act, cause were too tired](https://youtu.be/kklOWwcRLvA?t=794)  
8\. [ XZ called WYB a little kid](https://youtu.be/56iN-YpWB-g?t=96) (he did it more than once, but WYB reacts differently in others, so I will use those later, I have plans)  
9\. [ WYB sends XZ his photos](https://www.instagram.com/p/B1iSLtrAzQP/?igshid=116h0ha508p82)  
10\. [ not ideal video for this as they are messing around here, but the only one I found where XZ says WYB’s face is handsome on the set and not the year after](https://youtu.be/tqsO3TpZ1R8?t=41)  
11\. [ Not the photo I actually had in mind writing that part but look how adorable he is here ahaha](https://m.weibo.cn/status/4349893994778451)  
12\. [ WYB searches himself online](https://youtu.be/s1WerqPC1pQ?t=183)  
13\. [ The gif](https://twitter.com/zhansyibo/status/1159095560558669826?s=21) (Upd. Ain’t no one gonna comment on that motorcycle gif?! I nearly pissed myself laughing when first saw it, cmon, people! xD)
> 
> And a couple of extra:  
[This](https://youtu.be/kklOWwcRLvA?t=756) and [this](https://youtu.be/kklOWwcRLvA?t=1112) \-- “You start it now?”  
[ Smiling to each other compilation](https://www.instagram.com/p/B1TbnSRgUVt/?igshid=19a69tzekjb5a)
> 
> **Next** is a long-distance friendship from WYB's perspective that I haven't written a single line of yet ahaha


	7. Long distance what?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“I’ll have to stick around so you can smile more, then, such responsibility you put on me, Wang YiBo.”_   
_Then stick around._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost 100 subscribers, guys! <3
> 
> Thank you everyone who is engaging with me in the fan screaming in the comments, really appreciate it and enjoy talking to you :) 
> 
> I'm not happy with this chap, writing from YiBo's POV just doesn't seem to work for me at all, so please squint a bit while reading. 
> 
> **Announcement**.  
You might have noticed that this is now a series. I decided to split it, as the last part with the happy end and romance in it will be pure fiction with almost no sources to base it on, plus, it will be quite long (for just one chapter) and not in a form of ficlets, as I've been writing this until now.  
Click on the "subscribe" button [here](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1469345) in order to get an email notification when I post it.

Between the constant photoshoots, interviews, acting, motorcycle and skateboard training there is not that much time for anything, really, let alone for reminiscing about the last year filming of _ The Untamed _, but YiBo manages somehow. He didn’t really plan for this back then when they finished the final scene, when they wrapped up the farewell party several days later and everyone went their own separate ways, back to their lives. After all, he knows how to move on, he doesn’t like looking back, even to the good things. There is a certain pleasure, power even, keeping his focus on the future, taking just the best with him from the past events of his life, and moving forward to learning something new, doing something he hasn’t done yet.

So he doesn’t really miss the filming itself, but the routine, the constancy of his surroundings, the familiarity of it, of the people there. It is just there, on the top of his mind every day he has to wake up in an unfamiliar room of a hotel; it is there when he makes his way past the crowds of fans in an airport; it squishes into a short pauses between the point when his make up is done and before an interview starts.

He makes a note of it, of this not fully nostalgic but more vexatious feeling, and just lets it be, wondering when a day will come when the memories of working on this TV drama would be just that, memories, without having that bittersweet undertone of a vain hope for something, he avoids thinking about. Not that he has any time to spare for that.

He likes it when he has a photoshoots scheduled. They are indeed tiring, his eyes are dry and sensitive from the lights by the end and more times than not he has a sore neck from all the uncomfortable poses they put him in that mysteriously look good in the resulting pictures. But he doesn’t have to socialise, can even pretend to be the only one in a room or wherever else they are shooting, can detach himself just a little bit from the physical world around him and stay alone with himself, all along having nice pictures of him taken.

They are always worth it in the end. And that he is being paid for this is really just a pleasant bonus.

Interviews and TV shows are worse. Too many expectations he has to meet, too many people he couldn’t care less about; he forgets their faces the moment he is out of there. 

Too many questions he not so much minds answering but mostly doesn’t really understand why they are being asked. Why it is so important for someone to know all these tiny insignificant details about his life and his way of thinking? 

Xiao Zhan is so much better than him in this, so much nicer. Can’t they just focus on him, and let YiBo do what he is good at? They can’t really enjoy the cold shoulder he is giving them when they ask their questions.

But he knows, this is work, and it needs to be done, so he just goes through the motions. He is quite used to it anyway.

It is not that he doesn’t enjoy such life, he very much does in fact ― he has a big ego after all and seeing billboards with his face on them strokes it in all the right places.

It is just that something is missing. 

He knows where he is going to be next day only because his managers has his life planned several months ahead (or maybe even more, but he graciously doesn’t overload YiBo with this information) and sends him reminders on his phone about the interviews and such.

His life is hectic and he is rarely home, living from a hotel to a hotel, but it is secure — if he wants, he can look into his calendar and know exactly where he will be in a few months. 

Time flies with such schedule. It is easy to completely miss whole months passing like that, he’s had that happened to him before, and sometimes he doesn’t realise that it’s been a whole week or even longer since he last talked to Xiao Zhan.

It is a new thing for him, he’s never before bothered keeping even semi constant flow of chatting with someone who was farther than a one hour ride on a motorcycle. 

Between their respective quite packed schedules there is not much time to talk, and so they mostly make the best out of texts that often sit in the chat unanswered for days. Xiao Zhan is somewhere in the wildes, shooting some historical drama, and while YiBo waits for him to get some spare time _ and _to find a place with a cellular coverage, he sends as many texts, memes and voice messages as he is able to. 

The answers usually come when he is himself unavailable, the two of them are horribly out of sync, and so it goes on, and YiBo thinks they might as well be sending each other mail pigeons ― really, the effect would hardly be different. 

It upsets him, but at the same time he is thrilled and quite honestly surprised that their communication hasn’t fully died down in these circumstances.

He is at home for the first time in almost two months and it barely even feels like home. The air is stale and he opens the windows. He rummages kitchen cabinets and the fridge, finds one very dead carrot (why does he even have that?!) and a piece of a brick-like bread. He googles some food delivery and orders a couple of meals without even sparing much attention to what exactly he’s ordered ― food is food[ 1 ](https://youtu.be/kklOWwcRLvA?t=1188) ― and goes to soak under a shower. 

He is halfway through his meal, clicking through the channels on his TV absentmindedly, when his phone buzzes with a notification. He looks down at it and lits up, seeing that he received several images from Xiao Zhan. 

It is rare for them to be online at the same time, and he opens the chat, texting,

_ “Yo! I’m home, can you imagine. How’s it?” _

The answer comes almost instantly, and YiBo chuckles, when he sees it.

_ “Hot. Dusty. U know. I’m in the city now tho.” _

Oh, YiBo does know. Xiao Zhan must be quite moody now, unless he’s built up some tolerance for the heat, but YiBo’s not going to complain.

_ “Video call?” _he sends. 

_ “I’m in the city since 2 hrs ago and I’ve already seen 3 builboards with ur face and 2 minutes ago there was an ad with u on tv, convince me,” _comes the answer.

“_ The real thing is better,” _YiBo texts back.

There is a minute pause and then YiBo’s phone screen lights up with an incoming facetime call. 

Xiao Zhan looks tired, but he smiles when YiBo grins in the camera.

“Wow, you still remember how to smile, Wang YiBo,” he says. “I almost got worried that all my teachings went to waste.”

YiBo settles his phone against one of the takeaway boxes and leans forward on his elbows.

“Are you saying I’m not smiling enough?!”

Xiao Zhan just shakes his head with a breathy laugh.

“Have you even seen the face you give the interviews with?!”

YiBo just shrugs. “They are boring to give alone. Was funnier with you,” he answers honestly.

“I’ll have to stick around so you can smile more, then, such responsibility you put on me, Wang YiBo.”

_ Then stick around, _YiBo wants to say, but bites his tongue and answers instead,

“It’s all the photoshoots I’m having, easy to forget how to smile.”

“What, they don’t allow you to smile there?” Xiao Zhan asks in amusement.

“It’s uncool.”

“Smiling is uncool?”

“Yeah, doesn’t look cool on the pics.” YiBo grabs the phone from the table and stands up, picking up his unfinished meal and putting it in the fridge. He eyes the Very Dead Carrot in the corner suspiciously and makes a mental note to throw it away later before he actually gave it a real name.

“Have you ever seen yourself smiling, Wang YiBo?” Xiao Zhan asks meanwhile. “Uncool, he says. Looks pretty cool to me.”

YiBo gives him an unimpressed stare, leaving the kitchen and crossing the small hall to his bedroom.

“It’s the other type of cool, Zhan-ge.”

“I guess I just don’t get it.”

“You’re probably just too old to get modern fashion, Lao Xiao,” YiBo says with a smirk, sitting down cross legged on his bed. 

“Such brat.”

“Speaking of which, when will you stop calling me kid behind my back?” YiBo asks, referring to a couple of Xiao Zhan’s interviews he saw. He falls back on the pillows and presses his bended legs to his chest, putting his phone between his knees.

“I can call you a kid in your face, kid.”

“You got yourself a good beating just from calling me that now, just wait, gege.”

“Stop joking about my old age, then, YiBo. It’s just six years!” Xiao Zhan whines.

“Exactly! And I’m always saying such nice things about you, Zhan-ge,” YiBo answers, pursing his lips in a mock pout.[ 2 ](https://www.instagram.com/p/B1oAQDkgAiM/?igshid=17peq7bwt3xmc)

“I’m saying nice things about you too, so we’re even.”

“Yeah, what kind?” YiBo asks, putting his hands behind his head and grinning. 

“What, Wang YiBo, you saw my interviews where I call you a kid and didn’t see the ones where I give you all that praise?” Xiao Zhan asks and YiBo just smiles wider. “Oh, I see, Wang-laoshi just wants me to stroke his ego!”

“Bring it on!”

Xiao Zhan clicks his tongue and waves a finger in front of the camera. “No no, you’ll have to search for those videos yourself, Wang YiBo,” he says, smiling brightly.

There is a moment pause when they are just looking at each other, grinning widely and then Xiao Zhan averts his eyes with a soft laugh.

“Ok, you were right, the real thing is better,” he says. 

“Wait until we meet next month. It will be a full 4D experience,” YiBo answers wiggling his brows and winking. They have a whole pack of photoshoots, interviews and TV shows scheduled in a month, when the cast of _ The Untamed _will gather back together after the drama finally starts airing.

“What’s the 4 for?” Xioa Zhan looks back at him in amusement. 

“I will be able to hit you,” YiBo laughs. “I bet you missed that part.” 

“Can’t wait.” 

They talk until Yibo sees that Xiao Zhan’s eyes are closing on their own account and he urges him to go to sleep, even though he doesn’t want to end the call. 

Xiao Zhan wishes him a good night and disconnects. 

YiBo is looking at his phone for another minute, before putting it on his night stand. The sudden silence is unbearable. He turns on a small TV on the wall across from his bed, finds a sports channel and sets the volume to 3.

He lies down and takes his phone again, looking through the pictures Xiao Zhan sent him earlier. They are mostly sceneries from the location he is shooting in and a few selfies.

One month, he tells himself. He sighs, putting away the phone and closing his eyes. 

With a schedule he has, he knows in one month it would seem to him that only a few moments have past between their video call and the moment they see each other again.

One-mississippi, two-mississippi―

He falls asleep to make it pass faster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your comments are very welcome.
> 
> Some sources:  
1\. [ WYB doesn’t care what to eat, can eat anything except carrot](https://youtu.be/kklOWwcRLvA?t=1188)  
2\. [ WYB saying that XZ is perfect](https://www.instagram.com/p/B1oAQDkgAiM/?igshid=17peq7bwt3xmc)
> 
> \- [ Sending memes: WYB sends his own memes to XZ](https://youtu.be/56iN-YpWB-g?t=196)  
\- [ Sending memes to each other](https://youtu.be/56iN-YpWB-g?t=222)  
\- [ XZ prefers cooking but WYB doesn’t like doing it](https://youtu.be/kklOWwcRLvA?t=142)  
\- WYB can’t sleep with lights off. He has to have some lights on or TV, also he has trouble sleeping alone. I have a few links, but I will more thoroughly use this information in Part 2 of this series (oh, you gonna **love** it!), so I’m not giving the links here.

**Author's Note:**

> [**Tumblr**](https://myfandomcauseshanaji.tumblr.com/) [**Twitter**](https://twitter.com/KamuiRil)


End file.
